Isaiah 7:14

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.” Isaiah 7:14

The word Emmanuel means “God with us.” Early Christians looked at this passage as one which pointed toward Jesus as the messiah. God with us means that there is nowhere in life we can go, that God is not present. God is with us when our world crashes and God is with us when our hearts are full of joy. God never promised a life without pain, anguish or struggle. There was no promise we would have simple answers to complex questions. We were not promised that we would not get sick, have an accident, or succeed at our every effort. God did not promise we could go through life without trouble, pain, sorrow, hurt or loss.

Today, you may be struggling in your personal life. Some hardship or loss has taken hold. You wonder how you will make it and if you will have strength for tomorrow or the day after. Sometimes you wonder if there is any use in trying. You may be asking where God is in all of this . . . the job, family issues, health crisis or painful loss.

While God did not promise to take away our pain, God did promise to be with us in it. The promise was, that God would be with us in the struggles we faced each day. Jesus came to walk among us. He came so we would know there was nothing in life or death we would ever face alone. That hope and certainty has sustained me in my most difficult moments.

It is the same hope that causes the early hymn writer to pray:“O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheerOur spirits by Thine advent hereDisperse the gloomy clouds of nightAnd death’s dark shadows put to flight.Rejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.”

Prayer: Loving God, you know how the pain in our lives can overwhelm us. Our hearts break. Hurt and loss threaten to devour us. In those moments, remind us that you are near as a breath and a prayer. As we pour out our hearts to you, may we find both comfort and peace. Amen.

Search

Recent Posts: A Pastor's Heart

I’ve been talking to a lot of people who are struggling emotionally this Christmas. Some grieve the loss of a precious person in their life. Others’ speak of our negative political landscape. Decisions made in Washington may run counter to our deepest values and beliefs. Dire predictions about our rapidly changing climate and Washington’s tepid […]

Each year, the church I volunteer at raises funds for toys that will be distributed to our local Community Outreach agency. Parents are given a time when they can pick out gifts for their children. Our youth are tasked with going out and spending the money raised at church to buy gifts for teens – […]

Luke alone tells us of Mary’s journey to her cousin Elizabeth’s home after she learns she will be the mother of the long awaited Messiah. There must have been something about Mary’s face, a light – a radiance, that wasn’t there before. Elizabeth is moved to greet her with wonder. Mary for her part cries […]

In the busyness of this season we can easily be distracted and lose our focus on the important. Margaret Bundy Moss’s Poem “Walk Softly” reminds me to pause for wonder as I travel through Advent days. “Walk softly As you go through Christmas, That each step may bring you Down the starlit path To the […]

An Advent Devotion for December 2 Read James 5:7-8 “Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the […]

The trouble with Jesus is that he says stuff that is inconvenient to our way of thinking and being. It was something so simple really. An email with an appeal to help persecuted Christians. Normally, my mind would leap to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq or some other area of the world where Christians live in danger […]

When my children were small, I acquired an advent wreath which quickly became part of our Christmas Celebration. The four weeks of advent were times when we would gather around the table to light a candle, read a devotion and sing a carol. What I should tell you though, is that singing has never been […]